Golden Globes 2011 predictions: Daily News critics cast votes for Natalie Portman, Colin Firth

The Golden Globes race, like any sporting event, has had oddsmakers furiously working since the field was announced last month.

Like the Academy Awards (nominations Jan. 25), the Globes have front-runners, favorites and potential surprises. And long shots, who of course are honored just to be included.

As you settle in to watch the stars enjoy the open bar on NBC tonight at 8, here's how we see the races, measured against the odds set by Benjamin Lee Eckstein's Las Vegas-based America's Line.

BEST PICTURE
Drama

"The Social Network"1-2
"The King's Speech"3-2
"The Fighter"12-1
"Inception"15-1
"Black Swan"18-1

Joe Neumaier:The odds favor the still-electrifying"The Social Network,"but I'd bet on"The King's Speech."Not just a viable contender, the British royalty drama is, crucially, a more traditional Globes winner. Nonetheless,"Social Network"is my choice for what should win, despite the multilayered emotionalism of"The King's Speech"and"The Fighter."

Elizabeth Weitzman:There's a reason this one's easy money:"The Social Network"was the movie of the year in more ways than one. For sheer entertainment, few others had it beat. The artistry involved was also impressive, both in front of and behind the camera. But David Fincher's Facebook bio will win because no other film so caustically assessed our era, and insightfully reflected it back to us.

BEST PICTURE
Comedy or Musical

"The Kids Are All Right"1-5
"Alice in Wonderland"4-1
"The Tourist"15-1
"Burlesque"20-1
"Red"25-1

J.N.:Lisa Cholodenko's"Kids"— she ought to have been a Best Director nominee, by the way — is the odds-on favorite, after seven months of great reviews and word-of-mouth praise. It will and should win because, let's face it,"Alice"is a nightmare masquerading as a dream,"Red"is overblown cable fare,"The Tourist"is Vogue-meets-Travel+Leisure and the Cher/Xtina movie is best seen projected onto a casino floor in Vegas.

E.W.:Really, Hollywood Foreign Press Association?"Burlesque"was one of the best movies you saw all year? What about"Easy A"?"Get Low"? Heck,"Jackass 3D"would have made more sense than"The Tourist."Fortunately, the beautifully perceptive"The Kids Are All Right"deserves to be the night's surest thing.

Jesse Eisenberg (l.) and Annette Bening are in the running for actor and actress awards, respectively. (Columbia Pictures; Focus Features)

BEST ACTOR
Drama

Colin Firth
"The King's Speech"1-4
James Franco
"127 Hours"5-1
Jesse Eisenberg
"The Social Network"8-1
Mark Wahlberg
"The Fighter"15-1
Ryan Gosling
"Blue Valentine"20-1

J.N.:Firth, the reigning awards-season champ, comes in the odds-on favorite and deservedly so; to bet against him would be as ill-advised as trying to march into Buckingham Palace. Still, great as Firth is as King George VI, Gosling should win for"Blue Valentine"— a tough performance that was as nervy, sweet and nuanced as any in recent memory.

E.W.:There's a lot of talent in this category, one of the few with no superfluous nominees. (Can we just go back and reconsider the presence of"Burlesque"in the Best Picture arena one more time?) Still, among four solid efforts, none offered the range, depth and extraordinary degree of subtlety that made Jesse Eisenberg's portrait of Mark Zuckerberg so fascinating.

BEST ACTRESS
Drama

Natalie Portman
"Black Swan"1-5
Nicole Kidman
"Rabbit Hole"4-1
Jennifer Lawrence
"Winter's Bone"5-1
Michelle Williams
"Blue Valentine"15-1
Halle Berry
"Frankie& Alice"20-1

J.N.:Newly pregnant Portman will surely give a full-bloom, tears-welling-up acceptance speech. She's as good as a lock for tonight. But if there were justice, Williams would win for"Blue Valentine"— her pas de deux with Ryan Gosling as working-class characters dancing around the strains of everyday life and marriage was achingly sad and beautiful.

E.W.:If you're going to bet on a risk, do it here. Newcomer and critical darling Jennifer Lawrence— who played a tough-as-nails Ozark teen — could pull off an upset. But Hollywood has been waiting years for Portman to achieve her potential, and after all the effort she put into portraying"Black Swan's"tortured ballerina, this is her moment to glow.

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